Means of cleaning sewers.



2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented July 27, 1909.

RA. GERRUTI. MEANS or CLEANING SNWNRS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. B, 1909.

Patented July 27, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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Nia-nn sr 'AFRANK A. CERRUTI, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.'

' MEANS 0F (HQEANIIWGy SEWERS.

A Speeieation of Let-ters Patent.

Patented 'July 2'?, 1,909.

Application filed February 8, 1909. Serial No. 476,651.

To all. 'whom 'it mag/concern:

Be it known that I., FRANK A. CERRUTI, a citlzen of the United States, residing in the borough of Bronx, in the city and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Means of Cleaning Sewers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

The improvement applies more especially to sewers in which for any reason as smallness of the inclination and consequent sluggishness of flow, scarcity of water for long periods, or the presence of water therein nnusually loaded with solidparticles, the lower part of the interior becomes packed with solid particles having density and adhesive properties which it is difficult todislodge even by the wasteful process of "iiushing. My apparatus may be applied with advantage in some cases even to portions of sewers which are ordinarily kept fairly empty by the How of water. It may be applied in all cases where there aremanholes at any ordinary dista-nces,-say fifty to a hundred and fty feet apart. l

Some of my apparatus has been long knownf and approved,-all as will be described.' There will be little diiiculty in purchasing or in making with ordinary tools and skill all that is required to clean large or .small sewers even if badly choked". The removal of the seinisolid material is effected by a rapid succession of buckets.

The following is a description of what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention.

rlhe accompanying drawings form a part of this specification. l

Figure l is a side elevation of my apparatus with a vertical sect-ion of a sewer and two manholes in which it is being w orked. Fig. 2 is an elevation at right angles to that in Fig. l and a corresponding vertical section of the sewer and of one of the manholes on the line 2--2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side view of one of the buckets on a larger scale. Fig. 4 is a. face View of the saine. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the same. Fig. G is a side elevation showing the wings. Fig. 7 is a plan view corresponding to l? ig. G.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures where they appear.

A isv the surface of the street.y a the sewer and a at manholes, all of the. ordinary construction, as is also the cart B which.

and conveys away the material of whatever consistency removed by my apparatus.

C is a portable steam engine with boiler and appurtenances which actuates the driving sprocket wheels C. These essential but ordinary parts are carried on a stout wheeled frame and provided with ordinary ineens not shown for reliably chockin or anchoring at any convenient point etw-een the manholes.

D is a frame erected over the manhole a', and D is a frame mounted in the sewer under such manhole, the two frames being confined and released by tie rods D2 and turnbuckles D3 all the parts being arranged to allow a clear space in the middle.

E, E', E2 and E3 are corresponding frames and securing means connected with the other manhole a2, and arranged to allow a clear space also in the axial line.` Each of these frames carries pulley wheels for two'stout chains running Side by side down the manhole a2, along the stretch of sewer between the manholes, up the manhole a and along the air above the street, back to 'frame E. I will use the saine letter Gr for all these carrying pulleys.

H and H2 are the two main chains and H are cross-bars connectinthem. The wheels C strongly revolved by the engine (l as required, engage and release the two cha-ins alike. The ohains run strictly parallel and wide enough apart to allow the buckets to be carried between them and'to be partially revolved in opposite direction at each traverse.

D4L is an inclined chute mounted in the framing D Vadapted to receive the mud descending from each bucket as 1t 1s tilted above and lead it into the cart.

M M are the buckets carried between the chains. lach is Alined on a cross shaft H tree to partially revolve in bearings in each chain.. Each bucket is rounded at its bottom and transversely corrugated, and each is provided with a sufficient projection M'v ofv chain adapted to receive motion from properly shaped teeth on the wheels C and to allow of introducingA or taking out links to cause the chains and .the buckets ,to traverse the sewer at lower and lower levels as the work between any given manholes proceeds. In yplaces where modern practice has introinanholes so near. together as to involve too too much labor in elfecting the required removals and readjustment it may be expedient in the use of my invention to make the chains long and the buckets many, and to extend each stretch so as to pass one or more manholes,--in other words make the lengths treated at one time include a much longer stretch than the distance between one manhole and the next.

Each frame-D' and E' is provided with means shown as simple slots ai, e, which allows the bearings of the pulleys Gr supported therein to be .raised and lowered. In commencing to treat a section deeply filled with hard or relatively hard deposit these lowermost pulleys G should be held near the top of the interior of the sewer. As the work proceeds these pulleys and consequently the nearly horizontal path of the chains and the buckets in moving along in the sewer may be lower. Considerable variations in the slack of the chains are allowable.

The raising and lowering of the loWer i pulleys G is effected with convenience by mounting each pairof those lower pulleys on a cross-shaft G', and carrying the latter in a holder having a screw-threaded leXtensi'on upward engaginv a large 'circular nut Pf, see Fig. 2. This atter is provided with holes into which may be inserted any convenient pin to serve as a short lever by which it may be'turned, the turning in one direction raising and in the other direction lowering the holder I), and correspondingly changing the depth in the sewer at which each bucket will make its traverse.' To effect great changes the engine C must be stopped and the chains H' H2 lengthened or shortened, but when the chains are mod erately slack small adjustments. of the depth of the traverse in the sewer may be `made without stopping the mechanism.

To leave sufiicient clear space inthe middle of the respective manholes, the tierods D2 must be as near the sides of the manhole as possible. The buckets M may be made of sheet steel rectangular in plan view. At each end is riveted an ear M3 which is enlarged at the top and provided with a hinged binder and fastening bolt as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4. The cross-bar H is square except in the bearings near each end by which it is carried in the chains H', H2.

The projections M2 may be the projecting ends of a bar extending through the interior of the bucket, but I prefer to kee the interior as clear as possibleto faci itate the emptying, and have represented the projec tions as each made independently and riveted on. They perform the important duty of engaging with the chains H', H2, and thereby arresting the revolving motion of each bucket in the right position, as it partially revolves alternately in one direction or the other on its cross-bar H.

There is a liabilit under some conditions for the chains to s ip off by rising above their correct positions, as they pass the toothed drivin wheels C". I reventthis by providing aove eachchain rollers N, carried on the ends of bars N2 and held down by inclined braces N attached to the supporting frame C2. This arrangement leaves the space directly above the sprocket wheel free so that theY chain can be deflected slightly upward in passing, or the sprocket teeth may project up through the chain or both.

Figsp and 7 show attachments K L to be applied'to the chains and compelled to traverse along the sewerwith the chains, being removed by hand or otherwise as they approach the ascending manhole a'. What I will term wings are set obliquely to the line of motion and adjustable by light chains K' K' on a frame L, carried by the main chains H', H2. The parts do not for this work require to be very 'accurately formed or very carefully worked. There may be a difference between one side and the other,-` or only one wing may be used so as to treat only one side at a time. It is only important that the wings shall slice oli', or some way get hold of, the solid or semi-solid mat* ter lying out of the path of the buckets and by their form and position utilize the power of the engine C and the endless chains H'` H2 to draw more and more of the material at the several successive traverses into the ditch or watery channel which has been before excavated near the centerline, and cause all of it which is not borne awa by the gentle current in the sewer to be lifted by the rapidly and persistently following buckets and transferred into the cart.

M4 are rollers carried on the several buckets which serve to reduce the abrasion on the bottom of the sewer if the chain is too much lowered.

-Modifications may be made without departing from the principle or sacrificing the advantages of the invention. Portions of the apparatus may be used without the whole. Other means than the screw-threaded support P and its nut may be used to raise and lower the chains in their passage along the sewer. Other forms of links than shown may be used to form the chains, but it is important to have many of them wide, forming each a bearing for a cross shaft carrying a bucket and also to have all or a rapidly disconnected to allow the chains to be lengthened or shortened when required.

I claim-as my invention: l. In combination w1th'a sewer, endless chains and provisions for moving them, ar-

2. As a means for cleaning sewers, two

endless chains extended down through amanhole, along the interior of the sewer, up through another manhole, and back above the surface of the street, in combination with buckets carried by such chains, wheels therefor arranged to keep the chains extended, sprocketed driving, wheels engaged with the chains, a connected motor for revolving them, and hold-down rollers above the upper traverse of the chains arranged to leave the space above the driving sprocket clear and adapted to insure the continued engagement as herein specified.

3. In apparatus for cleaning sewers, two equal endless chains and means for traversing them, carrying buckets between, partially revolving on transverse axes, means comprising the rounded and roughened bottom engaging with the solid matter in the sewer for turning, and the pins M2 contacting with the chains for holding each bucket in a horizontal 'position while traversing the interior of the sewer to another manhole, provisions by an upright traverse of the Y chain for raising the bucket face upward,

dumping the contentsand for carrying the bucket at a high level back to the first manhole and causing it to descend for another operation.

Ll. In' apparatus for cleaning sewers, two parallel endless chains carrying buckets suspended between, with liberty for making .of January 1909.

partial revolutions,` in combination with wheels M4 carried on the buckets and running on the bottom of the sewer.

5. In apparatus for,cleaning sewers, two equal endless chains and provisions for moving them in parallel paths adapted to traverse a portion of the sewer, to ascend in a manhole, traverse along above the street surface,and descend through another manhole, provisions for carrying buckets by such chains and thereby excavating a channel, and wings separately applied as required on such` chains and caused'to' traverse thereby, arranged to increase the width of such channel.

6. In apparatus for cleaning sewers, endless chains and provisions for moving them arranged to traversetwo manholes, and a portion of the street and of the interior of the sewer, provisions for carrying buckets by such chains and thereby excavating a channel, and provisions for lowering the path of such chains in the sewer and thereby increasing the depth of such channel, and wings separately applied as required on such chains and caused to traverse thereby, arranged to increase the width of such channel so that nearly the whole of the solid mat-l ter is dislodged.

7. In apparatus for cleaning sewers, two i endless chains and provisions for moving thenntraversing two manholes, and a ortion of t-he street and ofthe interior o the sewer, and cleaning means operated by such chains, comprising a serles of buckets fol-- lowing each other in a path between, descending through one manhole and ascending through another, a frame above and below veach manhole, and tie-rods with turnbuckles for' holding such frames in place with facility for removing at will.

. Signed at New York, N. Y., this 27th day FRANK A. CERRUTI.

Witnesses:

F. A. CHICKERING, 'ARTHUR PHELPS MARR. 

